Megachurch by the branch

Sunday’s recommended read is a profile in the Tacoma News Tribune of the leaders of the Christian Faith Center, the fast-expanding megachurch at SeaTac, Everett and – coming soon, on the move from SeaTac – Federal Way.

The Rev. Casey Treat shuttles between his two churches in a helicopter. When he arrives at the helipad on the grounds of his SeaTac megachurch, a golf cart whisks him to the front door. Soon he’s standing before a rapt audience and bantering with his wife and co-pastor, Wendy, via video and audio feeds. She’s in Everett, having traveled by the same helicopter from SeaTac.

The couple leads simultaneous services 40 miles apart. Their ministry reaches 8,000 worshippers in their churches each week and many more on TV.

The new church at Federal Way opening at September will be, its web site notes, about 220,000 square feet in interior size (about the size of a Wal-Mart SuperCenter); the TNT reports that the project cost will run about $70 million. It is nothing if not ambitious; audio on the church’s website says that with the new facility, the operation “will be stepping into a whole new level of influence.”